How much do you love your home state? Enough to pick a fragrance based on the state flower? We've got warm weather on the brain and we're looking for any excuse to lay eyes on bundles of flowers. So, we scoured a full set of encyclopedias (kidding! we used the interwebs!) to find the 50 state flowers and selected a gorgeous group of fragrances featuring those floral notes. One confession: a few state flowers are either poisonous or not exactly fragrant (sorry, Indian Paintbrush flower states), so we subbed state trees with matching scents. What are you waiting for? Click through to find your state flower ... in a perfume! read more

Roses are red, and that's all fine and good, but they eventually die. Flowers are gorgeous and special, but we're also practical women -- we won't turn down a dozen, but for our money, we want something that lasts beyond a few days. For Spring 2014, rose scents are all over the place -- in soaps, candles, body lotions and fragrances. read more

We've been drowning in new fragrances this summer. It's not a bad problem to have, but when your office starts to smell like a department store beauty floor, it's time to do some heavy editing. We've narrowed down the long list of summer fragrances to the top 12 biggest launches of the season -- the ones any fragrance junkie should be required to try. read more

Some celebrities make crossing into new creative zones seem so effortless. Victoria Beckham's fashion collection, Cindy Crawford's "Meaningful Beauty," and Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's "The Row" designer label. These star efforts are classy, stylish, and still holding strong. read more

Sure, you love your mom. That's totally undisputable. But that doesn't mean that some years Mother's Day completely escapes your mind and you're scrambling to find a gift for your mom at the last minute. read more

Have you noticed that when you read about the new fall 2012 fragrances like, say, Marc Jacobs' "Dot," that words like "playful," "lovely," and "fresh" always pop up in the description? And aren't vague, fluffy, marketing phrases like that completely annoying? What do they tell you about how the fragrance really smells? Nothing. And that's what we want to know. See best fragrances

When you ask a woman -- especially a beauty editor -- for her favorite perfume, you expect to hear names like Dolce & Gabbana, Burberry, and Chloé -- not Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian, and Paris Hilton. See them

I can't stand Victoria's Secret models. They're tall, thin, tan, and -- unlike most other models -- they're seriously sexy. It's impossible not to be jealous. I had the opportunity to bring my husband (then boyfriend) to the VS fashion show a few years ago, and I didn't leave him alone for a second. I was afraid one of those gorgeous creatures would blink in his direction and he'd never recover. See photos

perfume articles

Perfume Advice

Perfume is a mixture of fragrant essential oils and aroma compounds, used to give a pleasant scent to the wearer. Different fragrances can affect people in different ways. For example, fragrances like rose can be very relaxing. Because of this, wearing a certain type of perfume can make the wearer feel relaxed, feminine, strong, sexy, or light, in any combination. When selecting your perfume, you can choose your scent to convey something about your personality, as well as affect your mood.

Choosing your Perfume

It is important to understand that some scents will not work well with your body chemistry, no matter how good they smell out of the bottle. Before you choose a scent, you should try it and see if it works for you, personally. Some scents are floral, some are woody, and some are blended, and so forth, so you'll need to explore what scents work best with your body chemistry.

After you find a scent you like that smells great on you, you'll need to learn how to apply it well. Make sure that it is subtle and not overpowering, so that the people around you are able enjoy your new perfume. A dab of fragrance to what are called the pulse points is usually more than enough. Pulse points are where the blood vessels are closest to the skin, like the wrists, neckline, behind ears, and behind the knee.

At Total Beauty, we offer plenty of tips and tricks to help you select the best perfume for you, learn how to apply your fragrance, and change your scent with the seasons. By using our expert advice, you'll love wearing the fragrances you find.